Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the SailNet Community forums, you must first register. Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.Please note: After entering 3 characters a list of Usernames already in use will appear and the list will disappear once a valid Username is entered.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

OR

Log-in

User Name

Password

Remember Me?

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Additional Options

Miscellaneous Options

Automatically parse links in text

Automatically embed media (requires automatic parsing of links in text to be on).

Automatically retrieve titles from external links

Click here to view the posting rules you are bound to when clicking the'Submit Reply' button below

Topic Review (Newest First)

07-23-2013 11:19 PM

aprilsails

Re: How did you get your start in sailing?

I actually started sailing through the CSTA Tall Ship Training Program on a boat out of Kingston, Ontario. I went through the officer's program and went on the be watch officer/XO for 2 different ships. Spent 5 whole summers sailing throughout the Great Lakes.

After I started university I had to satisfy myself with a job onshore and occasional day sails on my 16' Bombardier Invitation.

I hadn't sailed a large boat for 10 years when friends asked if we could charter a boat in Kingston. We went for it and my husband has the cruising bug badly. We're going to pursue our cruising level and see if we can't charter some more!

07-20-2013 10:34 PM

XDLaser

Re: How did you get your start in sailing?

A great way to start is just to go ask around at your local beach, yacht club, got my first hull for free someone was literally about to take it to the dump, sailed it for a good 10 years then got more serious

07-08-2013 05:48 PM

Dick6969

Re: How did you get your start in sailing?

Started around the age of 10 or 11. My dad had a 22' open wooden sailboat. We sank it for a few weeks be for we started using it for the season. Then a few different little boats. Had a 27' for 13 years. Got a Pearson 323 April 2013. The last two were the only boats with motors. Thanks DAD. I take him sailing now he is 90. We will be going to the Islands next year...

07-08-2013 04:00 PM

Rossignols

Re: How did you get your start in sailing?

Started rather late in life, but better late than never. Have not been sailing very long, but started with an ASA basic sailing class, then joined a local club where there are many opportunities to crew. Now I canít get enough of it, just wish I was able to retire and do it full time.

07-08-2013 01:30 PM

CaptainForce

Re: How did you get your start in sailing?

I had to select "no formal instruction, sailing with family & friends" because it was the closest fit, but my history is strangely not on the list even though it is likely one of the most common introductions to sailing. What about some informal instruction from summer camp counselors? When I was a kid attending Pine Crest summer camp in Ft. Lauderdale we sailed little prams in the cove at the west bank of the new Las Olas Bridge. The old bridge in the fifties left much more room for sailing. Many people learned to sail in summer camps without a national organized instructional program.

I never had any interest in sailing. All that heeling and zig-zagging just to hit a spot straight ahead seemed very odd for someone who grew up with power boats and canoes. So there was this guy (isn't there always?); a friend from Texas, who was buying a sailboat in my area near Annapolis. I helped him crew it down to Florida in which we motored a lot. After years spent pouring diesel into twin 350 hp engines (back when diesel was cheap), that 1/2 gph that we burned on the sailboat really caught my attention. The fact that you could run out of fuel and still get the boat where you wanted it to go, was a complete revelation. When I started crewing on other boats, I said I'd never race. "Sailboat racing" was such an oxymoron. Now I'm in San Francisco Bay and can't get enough of it. On the Chesapeake, I used to say I'd never sail in more than 20 knots of wind. Now I'm grinning from ear to ear when we get a 30-knot "puff." Funny how opportunities and an open mind can change one's perspective.

This is a great story of transformation. Thanks for sharing!

07-08-2013 02:43 AM

gamayun

Re: How did you get your start in sailing?

I never had any interest in sailing. All that heeling and zig-zagging just to hit a spot straight ahead seemed very odd for someone who grew up with power boats and canoes. So there was this guy (isn't there always?); a friend from Texas, who was buying a sailboat in my area near Annapolis. I helped him crew it down to Florida in which we motored a lot. After years spent pouring diesel into twin 350 hp engines (back when diesel was cheap), that 1/2 gph that we burned on the sailboat really caught my attention. The fact that you could run out of fuel and still get the boat where you wanted it to go, was a complete revelation. When I started crewing on other boats, I said I'd never race. "Sailboat racing" was such an oxymoron. Now I'm in San Francisco Bay and can't get enough of it. On the Chesapeake, I used to say I'd never sail in more than 20 knots of wind. Now I'm grinning from ear to ear when we get a 30-knot "puff." Funny how opportunities and an open mind can change one's perspective.

07-04-2013 06:29 AM

SunnnyD

Re: How did you get your start in sailing?

I was bit by the sailing bug as a kid during a trip with some family and friends in the BVI; took a 5-day ASA class in San Diego in my 30's and bought a small and inexpensive weekender about a year ago... now its all about trial and error on a lake in KY and reading everything I can get my hands on!

Lee

07-03-2013 07:33 PM

windarra44

Re: How did you get your start in sailing?

Back in 2005 I owned a 26ft Blackman Sportfisher, trailered it 800 miles down Baja and anchored offshore for a month fishing, diving and surfing. I was in heaven, but all these larger boats kept comming through Mag Bay where I was anchored and we'd talk of their destinations. My boat had a 4 hundred mile range, they were heading to central america, the caribbean, south pacific, tonga, circumnavigating......I sold the power boat a month after getting home and 3 months later bought my 44ft ketch. Never sailed once prior to that day, but a whole lot since.....Life Is Good

07-03-2013 06:37 PM

emcentar

Re: How did you get your start in sailing?

By the way, I note with interest that although 'crewing for others' is often cited as a good way to learn how to sail (I've always been a little dubious of that suggestion), less than 5% of sailors here at Sailnet learned that way (summing the 'crewed around randomly' and 'mostly through racing' replies).

This thread has more than 10 replies.
Click here to review the whole thread.